Another Valentine's Day arrived at the Smash mansion, everyone was prepping their gifts for their sweethearts and crushes. There are exceptions, like Ganondorf who was observing the whole scene with disgust, and Wario who tried to ruin the fun. That only resulted in failure for the biker. Other than that, it was a good time, and one hero was going to take it a step further for himself. Holding a flower in his hand, Link waited excitedly in the dining hall; today will be the day for the Hylian to ask his crush out on a date. The smasher finally arrived, hair messy, eyes half open, and grabbing breakfast consisting of a bagel. The swordsman, not wanting to miss his chance, went up and held out the rose in front of them.
"...Is that for Zel?" the smasher asked, yawning afterwards. Link, though a bit flustered from the missed cue, shook his head.
"No, it's actually for you, Mac." the hero replied. The bruiser's eyebrows rose a bit from the response.
"Really? Thanks. I didn't really expect anyone to get me a gift." Mac said and took the flower. There was silence, besides the boxer chewing a piece of his food. Link couldn't take it any longer, he decided to go for it.
"Would you like to go on a date tonight?" the hero blurted. Mac choked a bit on his breakfast, his face turned red.
"I'm sorry, what?" he asked between coughs. Surely he misheard what Link said. There can be no way that the hero of Hyrule asked that.
"Want... would you go out on a date with me?" the hylian requested again, trying to keep any courage he had from slipping away. Mac thought he was going mad, but once again he was wrong; what should he say? He pondered for a moment and decided he couldn't reject Link, after all, it was the day of love.
"Y-yeah." the bruiser replied in a haste. Link's eye glowed with excitement, he could scream with joy! ...But that wouldn't be a good idea, so he didn't.
"Alright! Meet me at the new restaurant that opened up in the town at eight. Make sure you wear something formal." he stated before leaving. Mac stood there, dumbfounded by the whole thing. He couldn't believe that Link, the hero with many admirers, asked him out! A thought popped in the boxer's mind; he needs help, fast. Without a second thought, the pugilist ran off to one of the many rooms in the mansion. He knocked on the door furiously before the smasher on the other side opened, glaring at the lad.
"I swear to gods Mac if you're going to ask me to help you prank Ganon this early I'll-"
"I need your help with a date Ike." the bruiser interrupted. The blue haired swordsman snorted.
"You? A date? I thought I'd never see the day." he chuckled.
"Hilarious." Mac replied in a bitter voice.
"Take it easy tough guy, I'll help you out." Ike said. He glanced around the halls and noticed something.
"Ike, what the heck are you-" Mac questioned before the radiant hero dragged him into his room. Immediately after, a pitfall ball flew by, slamming into the wall and then disappeared into the floor.
"Wario, you're such a pest. Go bother someone else." Ike demanded into the emptiness of the halls. From… somewhere, grumbling could be heard before it faded away. The boxer was baffled from what had occurred.
"Keep your voice down next time." the swordsman told Mac. Now with that out of the way, he thought of what he could do with Mac's situation.
"Who asked you out?" the radiant hero asked, thinking it would be a good idea to have a starting point. Mac hesitated for a moment.
"Link." he responded. Ike laughed, but tried to suppress it. The young man was angry from the swordsman's outburst.
"Are ya seriously going to help me or laugh!?" he barked. Ike flicked Mac on the forehead, silencing him.
"First of all, calm down, you know that you-"
"I know, I know. No emotional outbursts." the boxer interrupted, taking a couple deep breaths. Only Ike and Doc knew what happened when Mac gets all riled up. The thought of it made Mac shudder.
"Alright, second of all, you should just be true to yourself with Link. He's a very light-hearted guy. You have to remember that under all the hero of legend stuff he's just a farm boy." Ike said. Mac nodded, taking the advice to consideration. He was aware that Ike knew Link for much longer than he had.
"Ok, anything else?" the bruiser asked. Ike crossed his arms and thought for a moment.
"Well, you can talk to him about animals as a conversation starter. Link is obsessed with cats. That's all I got." he responded. Mac thanked Ike for the help and left, avoiding where the pitfall landed. He decided the next step would be to get an appealing outfit. Coming up to a room, the boxer knocked on the door and a blonde woman wearing an elegant pink dress opened it. She was surprised to see Mac standing there.
"Oh Mac! What a surprise to see you!" the lady chirped. She invited the him in and offered a spot of tea. He politely declined.
"I was wondering if you can help me Peach." he stated.
"Of course! What do you need assistance with?" the princess asked.
"Well, I got a date tonight and-"
"Say no more! I know what you'll need." Peach stopped him mid sentence. Before another word was made, the royal led Mac by the arm to a closet. She entered and began searching for something just right within the huge arrangement of apparels. Mac wondered how and why she had so many articles of clothing in the first place.
"Here we are!" Peach shouted She rushed back over to the pugilist, holding up a neat black suit.
"This is perfect!" Mac smiled. His excitement grew as she handed it over to him.
"I'm happy you like it. Oh! I almost forgot one more thing." the princess said before running deeper into the closet. Quickly, she came back holding a small pink rose decoration.
"You should put this on the suit to give it a special touch." she stated. Mac nodded in understanding.
"Or you could put it in your hair!" she teased as she tried to put the flower on Mac's head. He avoided the attempts, not wanting to get his hair messed up.
"I ain't gonna do that, but thank you for everything." he replied. The boxer said goodbye and left Peach's room, now he had to mentally prepare himself for the date.
…
"Calm down, you'll be alright." Link thought to himself as he was sitting at a table, fidgeting with the green suit he was wearing. The hero arrived a few minutes early so he didn't come off as rude to Mac. He checked to make sure everything was in order. Everything was fine, but he was too distracted to notice someone approaching him.
"H-Hey." the voice stuttered. Link jumped a bit and saw Mac staring at him.
"Hi." he replied with a nervous smile. The swordsman thought he was better off in the Twilight Realm instead of dealing with the embarrassment. The pugilist sat himself down. He shakily grabbed the glass of water on the table and took a sip from it. His mind was at a blank.
"I like the flower you have on." Link commented.
"Thanks, I… like the suit you're wearing. Green looks great on you." Mac responded. He was tempted to slam his face on the table upon realizing what he had said.
"Thank you." the hero said and smiled. He felt a bit better knowing Mac was nervous as well. There was a moment of silence between the two.
"So, what kind of animals do you like?" the boxer asked, remembering Ike's advice. The Hylian's eyes widened with enthusiasm.
"I love cats, and dogs, and my horse Epona…" Link began rambled about all the stories he remembered involving animals. Mac listened intently until he noticed how bright Link's eyes were. He thought they were mystical and kept staring. The lad didn't notice Link had finished speaking.
"Um Mac?" the Hylian asked. The bruiser jumped a bit as he snapped out of his own trance, accidentally shaking the table in the process.
"Sorry! Sorry." he blurted, his timidness amplified. He felt his face turn red. Link chuckled a bit; he found it to be cute. Mac looked away, his nervousness only got worse from that.
"What were you saying?" he murmured.
"I was wondering what kind of animals you like." Link responded, waiting patiently for the pugilist to reply.
"I uh… like birds." he said, intimidated by the swordsman's gaze.
"Me too! I like hawks. What's your favorite kind?" Link replied, trying to edge the conversation further.
"Pigeons." Mac muttered.
"Huh." the Hylian replied. He wasn't quite sure what a pigeon was. Mac felt mortified and tried to come up with some other topic However, he felt a shooting pain in his jaw. Instinctively, he covered his mouth with his hand, which concerned Link.
"Are you alright?" the hero asked, worry was etched in his tone. Mac was trying to calm his now rising panic.
"Yeah, just a strained jaw." he responded, despite his voice being all muffled.
"Really? Let me see." Link said as he touched Mac's hand that was covering his mouth. The boxer got out of his seat from surprise, knocking over the glasses and the chair. The pain in his jaw now extended to his arms, causing him to shake. Mac's mind began to race, he knew what was going to happen next.
"I'm sorry, I have to leave." he declared before he bolted out of the restaurant.
"Wait!" Link shouted and gave chase. When he ran outside, Mac was nowhere to be seen. The Hylian looked around and found the rose Mac had on the ground, facing the direction of the mansion. There was pieces of his jacket on the ground as well.
Something was wrong. Link picked the flower up and began his trip back to the manor.
…
There was a commotion amongst the fighters in the mansion. Smashers claimed they heard crashing noises in Mac's room. When Link entered through the main door, everyone involved was questioning him on what happened during their time together. The hero was too focused on his task and went past them, heading up to the boxer's room. When he knocked on the door, it creaked open. Only darkness greeted Link.
"Mac?" he called as he slowly went inside and closed the door behind him. He glanced around, trying to find a light. He stumbled upon a lamp and flicked it on. Suddenly the swordsman saw part of a figure enter the bathroom, knocking over several objects.
"Mac, is that you? What's wrong?" Link asked. He was worried that he was in pain, or worse. The Hylian began to walk towards the room slowly.
"Stay back." a voice croaked. Link stopped, not knowing who's voice it was. He silently tiptoed to the wall, his back pressed on it. He sidled to the opening and slowly leaned enough to catch a glimpse of whoever was on the other side. What he didn't expect was him coming face to face with a behemoth of a man with a scowl on his face, exposed teeth, and wild hair. The two screamed upon seeing each other. Link tried to step back but tripped. As he was about to fall something caught him. He realized the beast man had grabbed his arm and stared at him. His expression was that of concern. The hero was bewildered by who he was looking at. Yet, he looked familiar. Had he seen him before?
"Are you alright?" the man asked as Link steadied himself. The Hylian examined him and noticed torn clothing all over his body, even the intact dress pants had some torn and wear from them. That's when the realization hit Link.
"Mac!?" he shouted before the man shushed him.
"Don't shout, I don't want anyone to see me like this." he whispered. The hero stared in disbelief. He had no idea that Mac can transform into Giga Mac outside of battle.
"So this is why you ran off." Link clarified.
"Don't remind me. Look, I'm really sorry. I ruined everything." Mac sighed and leaned against the wall, ashamed by what had occurred.
"I'm not mad. I was worried when you had your mouth covered. You looked like you were in pain." Link replied.
"I was, it definitely hurt when I started running." Mac chuckled, or at least attempted to. There was a pause.
"Oh, you dropped this." the Hylian said and held out the pink flower to Mac. He shrugged in response.
"Thanks, but," he took the ornament with his large hands and managed to put it Link's hair "I think it looks better on you." The hero laughed and shoved the pugilist.
"Trying to be romantic now of all times?" Link joked.
"I got nothing to lose at this point." Mac smiled. The swordsman chuckled, which made Mac feel at ease.
"Want to just hang out sometime? I'm wiped out from all this dating stuff." the boxer asked.
"Sounds good, I'll see you then." Link answered. He waved goodbye and left the room, admiring the gift that Mac placed in his hair. The pugilist stood there, feeling quite content until a realization hit him.
"I owe Peach so much money." he said aloud.